Tips To Make Your Resume More Computer Friendly!

Today with the huge volume of resumes received by some companies you could write and format a great looking resume, mail or fax it to the organization, and after being scanned and computerized your resume may never reach a hiring manager. If you do not make your resume scanner friendly your chances of your resume being noticed will be close to zero.

Here are some ideas to consider when you write and format your resume to make it score higher and be more recognizable by a computer scan.

1. Starting at the top of your resume your name should be at least one font size greater than the rest of the resume, but do not exceed 20 point type. Do not use decorative fonts or a reverse box. Make sure your name is on the top of every page of the resume.

2. Selection of the font is important because you do not want any part of a letter to touch another letter. To the scanner this leads to misspellings.

Suggested fonts are Serif (Bookman, Garamond or Times Roman) or Sans Serif (Ariel, Tahoma or Verdana) are all acceptable. The font size should not be smaller than 9 or greater than 12. Never underline anything in your resume, as it causes letters like g,p,q,and y to run together and cause misspellings.

Do not use symbols like % or &, they cannot be read properly by the scanner-always write out the term like percent. Do not use hollow bullets as the scanner would read them as an "O." Solid bullets are the best.

Italics can be used as long as the letters do not touch.

3. Don't use... dot lead ins. Use of white space is good to separate sections of the resume. Setting up the resume in columns like a newspaper page can cause problems for the scanner so don't do it.

4. Your resume should be send in a 9x12 envelope, never stapled or folded. Use bright white, off-white or light gray paper. Never have a background printed on the paper or print the resume on both side of the paper.

Now that you have the resume formatted properly let's discuss how you get noticed. A good thing about electronic scanning is that for experienced job seekers, a two page resume is acceptable and for executives a three page resume may be appropriate.

Since a human will be reading your resume, if you pass the scanning, good solid writing can't be overlooked. Keywords and synonyms placed in the resume as they relate to the job will vault you over other candidates. The keyword only has to appear once in the resume, you do not get extra credit for the same keyword appearing numerous times.

The keywords should be as specific as possible. "Project Manager," is good but "Construction Project Manager," is better and "Apartment Construction Project Manager," is best if the employer is looking for someone with apartment construction project management experience. A synonym for manager may be superintendent.

Carefully review the job announcement for appropriate keywords and synonyms. As appropriate make sure the words are naturally written into your resume. List your key skills and qualifications are on the first page of your resume. Quantify each achievement and accomplishment.

With your resume having no formatting problems, and the computer scan discovering you have checked all the keyword boxes your chances of getting called for the next level of job interviews has just gone way up.

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Make Sure Your CV Template Is Online Friendly

Many of the articles written on the subject of writing a CV assume the recruiter will be reading the CV on paper and manually compiling the list. But often the sourcing of CVs for a role will be done online using online job boards, LinkedIn or even using agencies' own internal databases, using word search software to find the CVs.

So if you want your CV to be at the top of the list keep in mind the following points.

CVs are usually identified on the basis of keyword search techniques. For example recruiters will usually search on the basis of job titles, specific software experience, and sectors worked in. You must therefore ensure that the keywords important to your work are incorporated into the writing of the CV. For example make sure that all the potential job roles and sectors that you want to be considered for are mentioned on the first page of the CV. The earlier the better. Try incorporating these into your personal statement such as:

"An experienced CPA Financial Analyst looking for progression to Financial Planning Manager. Experienced in all aspects of Budgeting, Forecasting, and Strategic Planning. 10 years experience in Manufacturing and Logistics sectors using SAP."

CVs are now usually sourced online on sites like Monster. You really need to check that your CV is easy on the eye looks good online. Think classy stylish rather than trashy garish with plenty of white space so that the relevance of your CV will be obvious. Keep in mind that a recruiter may spend no more than 10 to 15 seconds scanning your CV before deciding to pass it by, or mark for a more detailed review. They will rarely read beyond page 2 if you haven't sold them by then.

Recruiters will usually be looking for newly posted CVs, because they don't want to waste time talking to people who are no longer looking or not serious about changing jobs. By this I mean that they will be focusing on CVs posted or updated in the last 1-2 months. So for example if your CV is on a job board like Monster, it would benefit you to refresh it every month or so to keep it in the search lists..

If you are using a CV template to write your CV make sure it is optimised for online so your dream job can find you.

Read more ...

Make Sure Your CV Template Is Online Friendly

Many of the articles written on the subject of writing a CV assume the recruiter will be reading the CV on paper and manually compiling the list. But often the sourcing of CVs for a role will be done online using online job boards, LinkedIn or even using agencies' own internal databases, using word search software to find the CVs.

So if you want your CV to be at the top of the list keep in mind the following points.

CVs are usually identified on the basis of keyword search techniques. For example recruiters will usually search on the basis of job titles, specific software experience, and sectors worked in. You must therefore ensure that the keywords important to your work are incorporated into the writing of the CV. For example make sure that all the potential job roles and sectors that you want to be considered for are mentioned on the first page of the CV. The earlier the better. Try incorporating these into your personal statement such as:

"An experienced CPA Financial Analyst looking for progression to Financial Planning Manager. Experienced in all aspects of Budgeting, Forecasting, and Strategic Planning. 10 years experience in Manufacturing and Logistics sectors using SAP."

CVs are now usually sourced online on sites like Monster. You really need to check that your CV is easy on the eye looks good online. Think classy stylish rather than trashy garish with plenty of white space so that the relevance of your CV will be obvious. Keep in mind that a recruiter may spend no more than 10 to 15 seconds scanning your CV before deciding to pass it by, or mark for a more detailed review. They will rarely read beyond page 2 if you haven't sold them by then.

Recruiters will usually be looking for newly posted CVs, because they don't want to waste time talking to people who are no longer looking or not serious about changing jobs. By this I mean that they will be focusing on CVs posted or updated in the last 1-2 months. So for example if your CV is on a job board like Monster, it would benefit you to refresh it every month or so to keep it in the search lists..

If you are using a CV template to write your CV make sure it is optimised for online so your dream job can find you.

Read more ...

Make Sure Your CV Template Is Online Friendly

Many of the articles written on the subject of writing a CV assume the recruiter will be reading the CV on paper and manually compiling the list. But often the sourcing of CVs for a role will be done online using online job boards, LinkedIn or even using agencies' own internal databases, using word search software to find the CVs.

So if you want your CV to be at the top of the list keep in mind the following points.

CVs are usually identified on the basis of keyword search techniques. For example recruiters will usually search on the basis of job titles, specific software experience, and sectors worked in. You must therefore ensure that the keywords important to your work are incorporated into the writing of the CV. For example make sure that all the potential job roles and sectors that you want to be considered for are mentioned on the first page of the CV. The earlier the better. Try incorporating these into your personal statement such as:

"An experienced CPA Financial Analyst looking for progression to Financial Planning Manager. Experienced in all aspects of Budgeting, Forecasting, and Strategic Planning. 10 years experience in Manufacturing and Logistics sectors using SAP."

CVs are now usually sourced online on sites like Monster. You really need to check that your CV is easy on the eye looks good online. Think classy stylish rather than trashy garish with plenty of white space so that the relevance of your CV will be obvious. Keep in mind that a recruiter may spend no more than 10 to 15 seconds scanning your CV before deciding to pass it by, or mark for a more detailed review. They will rarely read beyond page 2 if you haven't sold them by then.

Recruiters will usually be looking for newly posted CVs, because they don't want to waste time talking to people who are no longer looking or not serious about changing jobs. By this I mean that they will be focusing on CVs posted or updated in the last 1-2 months. So for example if your CV is on a job board like Monster, it would benefit you to refresh it every month or so to keep it in the search lists..

If you are using a CV template to write your CV make sure it is optimised for online so your dream job can find you.

Read more ...

Make Sure Your CV Template Is Online Friendly

Many of the articles written on the subject of writing a CV assume the recruiter will be reading the CV on paper and manually compiling the list. But often the sourcing of CVs for a role will be done online using online job boards, LinkedIn or even using agencies' own internal databases, using word search software to find the CVs.

So if you want your CV to be at the top of the list keep in mind the following points.

CVs are usually identified on the basis of keyword search techniques. For example recruiters will usually search on the basis of job titles, specific software experience, and sectors worked in. You must therefore ensure that the keywords important to your work are incorporated into the writing of the CV. For example make sure that all the potential job roles and sectors that you want to be considered for are mentioned on the first page of the CV. The earlier the better. Try incorporating these into your personal statement such as:

"An experienced CPA Financial Analyst looking for progression to Financial Planning Manager. Experienced in all aspects of Budgeting, Forecasting, and Strategic Planning. 10 years experience in Manufacturing and Logistics sectors using SAP."

CVs are now usually sourced online on sites like Monster. You really need to check that your CV is easy on the eye looks good online. Think classy stylish rather than trashy garish with plenty of white space so that the relevance of your CV will be obvious. Keep in mind that a recruiter may spend no more than 10 to 15 seconds scanning your CV before deciding to pass it by, or mark for a more detailed review. They will rarely read beyond page 2 if you haven't sold them by then.

Recruiters will usually be looking for newly posted CVs, because they don't want to waste time talking to people who are no longer looking or not serious about changing jobs. By this I mean that they will be focusing on CVs posted or updated in the last 1-2 months. So for example if your CV is on a job board like Monster, it would benefit you to refresh it every month or so to keep it in the search lists..

If you are using a CV template to write your CV make sure it is optimised for online so your dream job can find you.

Read more ...

Want to Make Your Resume Recruiter Friendly? Read This

If you are a job seeker and in the middle of a job search, recruiters can either be your friends as well as your enemy. They have the power to actually keep you out of the hiring process or to introduce you to corporate hiring decision makers. In what way will the recruiter treat you in the job market is dependent on the quality of your resume. The quality plays a key role in determining how recruiters will treat you; hence, make sure your resume is recruiter friendly.

A typical recruiter friendly resume has three important elements, which includes the following:

? Focus

? Core competencies or transferable skills

? Accomplishments

If your resume lack in any of these essential elements, you may not be capturing the attention which you deserve, and you might be missing out on many important interview opportunities.

1. Focus

Recruiter's time is premium. For this reason, your resume should be able to tell your career focus to the recruiters within seconds of opening it. If you have not stated your career focus clearly, you should not assume that the reader will spend the time to search through your resume for clues. Most recruiters consider "Career Objective" statements to be worthless if they do not have any real information about the particular job position you are looking for and the expertise that you can offer. An ideal objective statement is concise and to the point.

2. Core competencies of transferable skills

Once the recruiter understands your focus, he or she will then want to know if you have the core competencies or transferable skills required to accomplish job. Your resume must feature a thorough research of employer job descriptions which will help you identify the core competencies.

You will be able to capture as well as hold the attention of the recruiter if you include only those core competencies which are related specifically to your focus. Make sure you do not muddy up your personal marketing message by including your extraneous skills. You should remember that all-important rule of relevancy, in order to go a long way toward keeping the attention of the reader on your key skills.

3. Accomplishments

After your resume has made it through the initial screening for focus and skills, then the recruiter would be interested to know how you compare against other candidates. Remember that recruiter receives record-high resumes which they have to respond to; hence, they are looking for good, solid reasons to recommend you for consideration over other numerous candidates. The best way to distinguish yourself from your competition is to have clear, concisely stated accomplishments.

Whether recruiters works for one corporation or represent many corporate clients as a third-party recruiting consultant, he or she should have valid reasons to promote you as a viable candidate. by including all the information they need in your resume, you can make their job a lot easier as well as bring your resume at the top of the candidate pile.

For best results, write your accomplishments that illustrate the strongest points of your core competencies, transferable skills and focus.

Most employers are relying on recruiters to screen out the applicant. For this reason, you have a better chance of beating your competition with a recruiter-friendly resume.

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